Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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4.0 out of 5 stars
This one was good, October 24, 2009
I am hot and cold on Alex Kava - although, for the most part, I have enjoyed them. The firs thing I noticed about this book was the cover - its perfect and absolutely creepy and scary! The down escalotor into a blaze of fire!!! Perfect.
This novel once again features Maggie O'Dell - who is called in to assist after an absolutely horrific act of terrorism (domestic) is committed at one of the busiest malls in the country, on the busiest shopping Day of the year (hence the title).
This book is seriously scary and had me thinking that this could happen absolutely anywhere at anytime - especially if we factor in the idealistic and easily influenced young adults - which is what this book is partly based on. This mass murder is actually committed by a group of young adults who have been influenced by the Project Manager - a mysterious figure who somehow gets away with the deed.
There are alot of dead bodies and although the author does not go into huge, huge details, she gives us enough to make us use our imagination about what the end effect of bombing a mall would be. This is a strength with this author - less is more as she asks the reader to use their imagination.
Maggie, as always is very likeable and between herself, Nick and a supporting team, will work towards finding the "mastermind". There are some neat little twists in this story and I thought that was a nice touch. I could have done with less romance between Nick and Maggie as I thought it removed from the core story.
I am also a little confused as to the ending which gives us the "whoddunnit" but had me wondering about some of the loose ends.
Still, this was a weekend read that I enjoyed and look forward to more books by Kava. Having said that, I am not sure that I will be entering any malls between now and December 31, 2009 - too scary.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Quiet, Understated Genius, October 19, 2009
Ruckus. Mayhem. Panic. Pandemonium. These are just a few words to describe the busiest retail day of the year, the day after Thanksgiving known as Black Friday. As Alex Kava's latest book opens, three students are looking to crank the calamity dial up to 11. Upon entering the Mall of America, the country's largest mall, they prepare a device in their backpacks to emit a wireless signal that will disrupt some computer systems. Other than a few major retailers, no one is supposed to be hurt by the prank. Unfortunately, the contents of the backpacks are not as advertised, and a violent explosion leaves shoppers killed and maimed. This massacre drags FBI profiler Maggie O'Dell away from her own post-Thanksgiving celebration in Virginia --- a fete that includes newfound love interest Benjamin Platt --- to Minnesota to participate in the investigation.
But O'Dell may not be ready for the task at hand. She currently has a lot on her plate, and unfortunately none of it is leftover turkey. Still reeling from the death of her former boss, A. D. Cunningham, O'Dell must deal with her new boss, Assistant Director Ray Kunze, who is trying to peg her for Cunningham's death. Kunze is more than ready to throw O'Dell under the bus as a scapegoat; he sees her impulsive, difficult nature as a proverbial thorn in his organization's side. Despite their shared antagonism, the two are forced to work together to get to the bottom of who exactly bombed the Mall of America and why.
While O'Dell and Kunze are transported to the mall, Homeland Security Assistant Deputy Director Nick Morrelli is on a parallel course to the site as well. Morrelli, a representative of United Allied Security (which has the mall as a client), and O'Dell are not strangers, having worked together in the past. Furthermore, Morrelli has sought a more intimate relationship, an overture that O'Dell has declined. Morrelli, however, is tenacious, and their mutual investigation gives him further opportunity to press his case. But there is work to be done, and one of the most frightening aspects of the bombing is that no one has claimed responsibility for the terrorist act.
For O'Dell, the investigation almost immediately strikes too close to home. It appears to the investigators that O'Dell's brother, Patrick, who was at the mall when the bombing occurred, was with the students carrying the backpacks and possibly may have been involved. Patrick knows only that some of his acquaintances had planned a prank. And he may be able to provide the only lead as to the identity of an enigmatic, capable and extremely dangerous mastermind known as the Project Manager. When O'Dell and the other investigators learn that there are other attacks scheduled --- the next to occur in less than 24 hours --- it becomes imperative that she find her brother, not only to ascertain what he knows but also to keep him from becoming one of the next casualties.
Kava uses two techniques --- short chapters and frequent scene shifts --- to keep her well-crafted plot racing along against a clock that ticks louder with each page. O'Dell is a real and believable protagonist, and, unfortunately, one can foresee that if there is another successful terrorist attack on United States soil, it will probably unfold in the way that Kava describes and for the same reason. Read BLACK FRIDAY, and be both entertained and forewarned in equal measure. Although the subject matter may come off as ominous, Kava's writing balances that feeling of dread with its quiet, understated genius. Think of her as a personal driver who is set to take you on the ride of your life. Like the best of drivers, she knows when to speed up, when to slow down, and when to shift as she propels her readers along a straightforward plot line loaded with scenery that keeps one on edge from journey's beginning to end.
Clearly, I am jazzed by Kava's writing. And when you finish reading BLACK FRIDAY, you will be as well.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Incorporates the Oklahoma City bombing..., October 12, 2009
There seems to be a recent trend with fiction writers to incorporate a real life event into their plot. Alex Kava pulls in John Doe #2 from the Oklahoma City bombings. She does it in such a way that it enhances the storyline and the effect is to blur the lines between fiction and reality just a little bit. Overall, Black Friday is a decent book, but it could have been better. The sudden confession of one of the bombing conspirators and locating the kidnapped victims using a cell phone GPS signal were not very original and just a little too convenient. If you want to zone out for a while with a quick and easy read, then this book is for you. If you like a more sophisticated plot which is logical and makes you think, you may want to pass.
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